A coup in Easter Island, for unknown…
1774 CE
A coup in Easter Island, for unknown reasons, by military leaders called matatoa had brought a new cult based around a previously unexceptional god Make-make.
In the cult of the birdman (Rapanui: tangata manu), a competition had been established in which every year a representative of each clan, chosen by the leaders, would swim across shark-infested waters to Motu Nui, a nearby islet, to search for the season's first egg laid by a manutara (sooty tern).
The first swimmer to return with an egg and successfully climb back up the cliff to Orongo would be named "Birdman of the year" and secure control over distribution of the island's resources for his clan for the year.
The tradition is still in existence at the time of first contact by Europeans.
Each year's winner and his supporters shortsightedly pillage the island after the victory.
With the island's ecosystem fading, destruction of crops begins to result in internecine conflict.
European accounts from 1722 and 1770 had seen only standing statues, but by the visit of British explorer Captain James Cook in 1774, many are reported toppled.